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C DIFF 2nd time?
Hello everyone, I had h pylori and took the quad therapy to eradicate it however, a few days after the therapy was finished I started having loose diarrhea multiple times a day so I got tested for cdiff and came back positive for both toxins.
I was out on dificid for 10 days. However after finishing the course I have still been having diarrhea which is yellow and grainy 4-5x times a day in small amounts.
The last 3 nights it has woken me up in the middle of the night with an urgency to go, leading to some gas and cramping as I emptied my bowels.
What do you think I should do? Get retested again? How do I fix this? Any advice would be appreciated
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I was prescribed Vancomycin for 10 days, but continued to have diarrhea 4-5 times a day after I finished the medicine. I asked my doctor if I could be re-tested and was told that I had to wait about 10 days after completion of the antibiotic to be re-tested. At that same time I started on a high potency probiotic (ProBioMed 250) and that drastically turned things around quickly for me. Stools firmed up, so I did not pursue re-testing. (If I had not seen this improvement I certainly would have retested after the waiting period). I noticed that any diarrhea I had happened within 20 minutes of eating, which eventually lead me to discover that I had developed post-infectious IBS as a consequence of the c diff toxins and antibiotics destroying the lining of my intestines. Certain foods triggered diarrhea during this time. I discovered the FODMAP diet (google it), which helped a great deal until I was able to eventually re-introduce all foods. This was a SLOW process to heal the lining of the gut. Also during this time I found a gastroenterologist who is an expert in C Diff who changed my probiotic to Visbiome (112.5) and Florastor. This was also a great help. Once my stools went back to normal I did not feel the need to re-test for C Diff. As soon as you are able to tolerate it - eating fermented foods are very good for repopulating your microbiome (yogurt, kimchi, raw, refrigerated - not heated -sauerkraut, kefir). Fast forward a few months, I became a patient of Dr. Sabine Hazan (ProgenaBiome.com) and have had my stool tested several times in an effort to fix my microbiome imbalance. Another great resource for C Diff is the Peggy Lillis Foundation at CDiff.org.
Just know that recovery can be a very slow process. It has been for me. It has been a little over 1 year since I got C Diff and I am finally back to eating all foods and have finally stopped losing weight. Be patient with yourself.
Wishing you all the best in your recovery…
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2 ReactionsHi! Do you recommend Dr. Sabine Hazan? I’m 29 and just tested positive for Cdiff a 2nd time. Do you mind sharing the name of your GI doctor who is well versed in Cdiff? Thank you
I highly recommend Dr. Hazan, she is the authority on C Diff, however she is expensive and does not take insurance. She also requires stool testing which is also expensive. She is located in California. All of my appointments have been either by telephone or Zoom. Her office number is (805) 339-0549 and website is ProgenaBiome.com. Visit the website to see if there are any research projects you may qualify for.
My gastroenterologist in Tampa, Florida is Dr. Roland Shepard. He is fantastic. His office number is (813) 280-7111. I had my initial appointment in person, but subsequent appointments have been by telephone.
I’m so sorry that you are dealing with this for the second time. Was your first diagnosis recent or has some time passed since? What caused the 2nd occurrence?
Hope you can get this resolved soon!